Our Voice
by ckret2
Summary: After Gaara becomes Kazekage, he hopes to mend the damaged alliance between Sand and Leaf. Several Konoha ambassadors are invited to Sunagakure for the New Year, one them being Hinata. She and Gaara soon realize how much they have in common. [GaaraHinata]
1. December 25

A/N: This is the first out of four parts for a fic I'm doing as a request for Yamikinoko in the LJ community Naruto Flashfic. She wanted Gaara/Hinata, so here it is.

Please note that the fic does start on December 25, but as this is Naruto-world, it is not Christmas, and thus it's business as usual for the characters. December 25 just happens to be one week before the New Year, which I guess the characters could celebrate.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hinata, Gaara, any of the other characters mentioned here, or the Naruto world. I own this fic and its plot.

x

Our Voice

_December 25_

x

Like attracts like. Those with something in common will always find each other.

They will go through the world, groping in the darkness until their outstretched hands find another set of fingers. One will say, "Who are you?" and the other one will answer. When two give the same answer, they will entwine their fingers tightly, and they will hold onto each other as they move through the darkness, reaching out to find others like themselves. To anyone else that finds them in the darkness, they may as well be one person.

Like always attracts like.

x

"I've called you all here for a special mission."

Hinata glanced nervously around the Hokage's office, keeping her head low and taking quick looks up at the people around her. She was the youngest person in the room.

She recognized three of the teachers: Asuma, Kakashi, and her own, Kurenai. She also knew Shino's father and Kiba's mother (who had brought her dog). There was Tsunade, Shizune, and another man she didn't know.

And then there was herself, standing against the wall and trying to go unnoticed.

The other adults stopped murmuring among themselves as Tsunade addressed them. Hinata wondered what was going on, and why she'd been called here with all these jounin. Maybe there was a mistake? She was afraid to ask.

Tsunade said, "As you all know, relations with Suna haven't been very pleasant lately."

Several of the older ninja chuckled. That was true enough.

Tsunade flipped through her papers, speaking as she did so. "You've probably all heard by now that the fourth Kazekage was killed by Orochimaru, right? He was recently replaced by one of his sons."

She pulled out one of the papers, and flipped it to face the group. It was a picture. Hinata gasped; she was the only one who did so.

"This is the fifth Kazekage. Gaara." She put the picture away, continuing to speak as she did so. "I know, we all recognize him from this summer. None of us have fond memories of him."

The group didn't speak, but Hinata could feel their unease. Or maybe it was her own.

"Even so, he's already sent an ambassador with a formal apology for what happened, and Suna demonstrated that they hope to repair relations with Konoha."

The man Hinata didn't know grunted, and said, "That's right. Shikamaru told me about how they helped on his mission to retrieve Sasuke." He must have been Shikamaru's father, Hinata thought.

"Kiba told me the same thing," Kiba's mother said, and her dog woofed in agreement.

"Then you see we're already moving towards our previous level of diplomacy," Tsunade said. "This mission is to speed up that process."

The group waited expectantly. Tsunade cleared her throat, and started. "This is a rather... unusual mission," she said. "It... shouldn't be dangerous, in any manner. Actually..." She groaned in frustration. "I can't believe I'm assigning a mission like this!" she complained. "This is ridiculous! Shizune?"

"What?" Shizune stared in bafflement as Tsunade sat heavily in her chair, glaring at her desk. Hinata shifted her stance slightly, raising her hands from her sides to twiddle her fingers together. What was going on?

"Oh. Right." Shizune stepped in front of the desk, gave Tsunade a brief, exasperated look, and spoke for her. "New Year's is in a week. The Kazekage has invited ambassadors from Konoha to come to Sunagakure for a celebration. We hope that if we can meet each other in times of peace, we'll be able to work better together at other times. The Hokage has chosen you seven as representatives from the most prestigious clans in Konoha – Inuzuka, Hyuuga, Yamanaka, Aburame, Yuhi, Hatake, and Sarutobi."

There was silence for a moment. "So what's the mission?" Kakashi finally asked.

"Er..." Shizune glanced at Tsunade, who offered no support. "It's a... party?" She smiled feebly. "I know, we've all got other missions to do, especially while we're trying to rebuild out village. And we'd all like to spend the holiday with our families. But strengthening our alliance with Suna is one of our top priorities."

While the others relaxed – how hard could attending a little party be? – Hinata tensed up. She had to go _socialize_? She could hardly speak to strangers, how could she make small talk?

Hinata shot her hand into the air before she gave herself time to think twice about it. Shizune glanced at her, surprised, and said, "Yes, Hinata-chan?"

"I-I..." A deep blush spread across her face. "I, um, I-I'm very grateful, of-of course... b-but..." She swallowed. Everyone was staring at her, or it felt like they were. "B-but... why... me?"

Tsunade glanced up long enough to answer. "Your father is on a mission and your sister's too young to go," she said. "We'd send Neji-kun, but it would reflect badly on us if we only sent a member of the branch family on a diplomatic mission."

"Oh, I s-see," Hinata mumbled, so quietly that probably no one heard her anyway. She stared down at her fingers. "Thank you..."

Shizune went on. "We're setting out for Sunagakure this afternoon," she said. "You have this morning to pack and go eat lunch. You'll all have to be back here by one in the afternoon. Understood?"

"Yes ma'am," the seven ninja said together.

"Good," Shizune said. "You're dismissed."

Hinata drifted out with the other adults, lost in her thoughts. This was going to be a complete, utter disaster, the worst mission she'd ever been on. How was Hinata going to survive a party?

x

"You did _what?_" Gaara snarled, curling his hands into fists.

Temari didn't flinch, but then again she had Kankurou next to her and six jounin behind her. Perhaps Gaara had promised to be a civil human henceforth, but no one was taking any chances. "You need to get to know the neighboring villages better, especially Konoha," Temari said. "Besides, as Kazekage you can't expect to get by without ever meeting ambassadors from other lands. Sooner or later you're going to have to learn to deal with social situations like this, and better start with a relatively low-stress one. Right?"

Gaara didn't move, aiming a glare at Temari that she met, fearful but not looking away. Low-stress to _some_, maybe, but Gaara was used to the pressure of a battle, working while under attack and, since becoming Kazekage, shouting out orders to those who needed them. Idle chitchat with the scornful eyes of strangers upon him didn't strike him as low-stress in the least.

He sighed and sat down at his desk, never unlocking his eyes from Temari's. He would concede defeat but he wouldn't do it gracefully. "When are they supposed to get here?" he asked.

"Three days from now," Temari said. "I'll handle the arrangements for the actual party and for the guests' quarters. All you'll have to do is be the welcoming host."

Gaara groaned and didn't bother to conceal it. He'd rather switch jobs with Temari.

She tightened her lips, but didn't comment. "I'll report to you periodically," she said. Her voice trembled slightly; so she _was_ still scared of Gaara. He didn't know whether he was pleased or disappointed.

Temari turned and left the room, and the six jounin followed her. Kankurou slipped away from the group, hanging back until he was the only one left in Gaara's office. He looked nervous.

"Yes?" Gaara said, knowing full well that it probably wouldn't really help Kankurou speak up.

Kankurou cleared his throat. "To be honest," he said, "I'm kinda the same way as you about parties and stuff like that. I'm planning on sneaking out after the first half hour and heading to the restaurant down the street from the playground Yashamaru used to take us to. You know the place?"

Gaara didn't have an eyebrow to arch, but the idea was there. Kankurou was talking about the restaurant with the posters of girls covering the windows, little red bars of paint just barely covering the necessary places. "Are we allowed in there?" he asked.

"Who's going to stop us?" Kankurou said, almost smiling, but stopping and glancing away from Gaara. "I'm just saying, if it gets too unbearable at the party, I'll be over there and I'd be glad to have you."

Gaara was pretty sure the second part of the sentence was a lie, but he was touched that his brother was even trying to help him. "I'll... Thank you, Kankurou. I'll think about it."

Kankurou nodded, gruffly said, "No problem," and hurried out of the room.

Unfortunately, Kankurou's restaurant would be little better than the actual party. Too much activity that Gaara was supposed to be excited about but knew he wouldn't be. He sighed, stood, and glared out the window behind his desk at Sunagakure. How necessary was a New Year's party to ensure the protection of the people in his village? He wondered if it was too late to go to Temari and refuse, and how much force would be needed to back up that refusal. He couldn't risk estranging the ninja of Suna again, and any sign of ill will towards his own would undoubtedly just bring back everyone's fears.

How was Gaara going to make it to the New Year with his sanity intact?

x


	2. December 28

A/N: Thank you for your reviews, your faves, and your alerts! I'm glad you like so far, and here's part 2 of 4.

Disclaimer: Still own nothing.

x

Our Voice

_December 28_

x

Sunagakure didn't feel as hot as Hinata had feared it would.

True, it was amazingly hot, hotter than any natural weather Hinata had ever experienced before, but she had feared that the desert would be even hotter. It was the lack of humidity, she thought. She had been prepared for a heat that clung to her like wet hair, not this dry heat, sandpaper against her skin. Now she understood why Sand-nin wore long sleeves, protection from the naked sun.

Because there was no moisture to hold the heat to her, the moment Hinata stepped under the shaded entrance of the building where the Konoha ambassadors would be staying, she was hit with cool air like a wave of icy water. It wasn't really that much cooler inside, she soon realized, but it was definitely better than being outside.

Four Suna jounin had guarded the ambassadors ad they proceeded through the village into this building, which appeared from the lobby to be a luxurious hotel. Now, the jounin detached themselves from the sides of the group, walked forward, and stood in a straight line in the center of the lobby. Then they saluted.

It took Hinata a moment to realize that the Konoha ambassadors had lined up as well, and she hurriedly took her place on the end. She gulped, glancing around the lobby. Would the Kazekage come out now? Would he look like a monster? What would happen if Hinata fainted in front of the whole group...

A door at the side of the lobby opened with a click that echoed through the room. The Kazekage, just barely a teenager, with uncombed red hair and sleepless black bags under his eyes, and a tattoo on his forehead that Hinata would commonly associate with kids who wanted to look cool but ended up feeling stupid. His gaze was cast low as he shuffled in front of the four jounin, and he only jammed his hat on his head when he was almost in position. Finally, he stood before the line, hands behind his back and turned towards the Konoha ambassadors.

He looked very normal. He looked like a Kage. Hinata sighed mentally and shifted her stance, prepared for a long speech.

Gaara took a deep breath, and began to speak. "Hello." His voice was barely a mumble. He started again, a little louder, rushing all his words together. "Welcome to Sunagakure, we're glad to have you here, please make yourselves at home, you will have your rooms in this facility, the jounin behind me will show you to your rooms, we hope you enjoy your stay, I will see you more over the next few days before the party. Happy New Year." He pulled his hat lower over his face, which was turning red, and out through the door he'd come in.

The room was silent again. The Suna-nin looked distinctly uncomfortable. After the moment dragged on far too long, the door was slammed open again. Hinata jumped.

A blond teen with four pigtails stomped into the room, muttering under her breath. The only word Hinata distinctly picked up was "Useless."

She stopped where Gaara had stood, smiled widely and apologetically, and said, "I'm so sorry about that. He's just..." She stopped, muttered, "Oh, forget it," and continued with her smile. "Like he said, these four will show you where you'll be staying. Dinner will be at five o' clock, though if you want to eat earlier – I know you had a long journey – just speak up and I'll arrange something." She looked too young to be handling all this on her own. "Any questions?"

There were none.

"Okay! In that case, welcome!" She stepped aside but didn't leave the lobby.

Eventually, they all found their rooms. Hinata dropped her luggage on the bed – simply a change of clothes, her dress outfit for the party, and the typical contents of her weapons pouch. She was hungry and it was only three in the afternoon, but she didn't want to go downstairs and bother that girl, Temari. It looked like she had too much on her hands already.

Hinata sat on her bed, flopped backwards, and clasped her hands over her stomach as she stared at the ceiling light. The Kazekage, Gaara, was not what she expected. He wasn't anything like the wild-eyed boy she'd seen at the Chuunin Exams, who she'd watched murder a team of genin from Amegakure for no reason at all. He wasn't like any Kage Hinata had ever seen or heard of before.

He was an awkward teen. He was a shy kid, unused to crowds or having to address them. He didn't like his hat, hadn't learned how to deal with people looking to him for leadership, and probably wasn't looking forward to this party.

That made Gaara something of a sympathetic figure. They were fellow suffers, both trapped in this event that neither desired to participate in. Too-young ambassadors, there out of necessity rather than choice. Hinata was glad she wasn't alone.

Her stomach gurgled insistently and she unlaced her fingers to push herself upright. Three holes in her vision danced on the walls, purple-green, the afterimages from staring at the naked bulbs in the lighting fixture. She didn't want to be a nuisance, but she really was too hungry to wait another two hours until dinner. She'd just have to go down and do something about it.

The hotel, if that was what it was, was three stories tall, and the Konoha ambassadors were on the second story. As Hinata started down the wide stone balcony leading to the lobby, she could see that Temari already had a couple of people to deal with. If it had been someone Hinata knew – Kurenai, or even her teammates' parents – she might have gone down and joined the group. But Kakashi and Asuma were speaking with Temari, and evidently deep in discussion.

Hinata stopped uncertainly at the bottom of the stairs, and slunk sideways until she was against the wall opposite the trio. She wondered if she should interrupt, and almost broke out in a fearful sweat just considering it; she'd already sweated enough over the past three days to last her a year, as far as she was concerned. Sighing, Hinata twiddled her fingers together, standing not quite close enough to the wall to actually lean against it, and resolved to wait with her stomach grumbling.

x

Do something useful, Temari had said. As the four jounin had finished escorting the ambassadors from Konohagakure to their rooms, she had pulled one aside and instructed him to relay that message to Gaara. Do something useful.

Now he was standing in the doorway that led from the office of the hotel into the lobby, staring out morosely. It was empty, except for Temari and a couple of people she was talking to, and he doubted she wanted him to interrupt. What, exactly, did she want him to do? Go knock on a random door and ask if anyone needed anything?

He wanted nothing more than to quietly leave the lobby, sneak out of the hotel, and go back to the Kazekage Mansion to hide in his room. However, something in him, perhaps the remnants of the child who had learned from Yashamaru that it was wrong to disobey instructions, kept him in the doorway. If he went into the lobby, he'd have nothing to do; if he left, he'd feel guilty; if he stayed where he was, he'd just keep getting more uncomfortable with indecision. Gaara was considering trying to create a way to flip a coin three ways when he noticed another person in the lobby.

He wondered how he hadn't noticed her before. She was all by herself, standing next to the wall and looking helpless. This would be easy. Go out there, ask her if she wanted anything, retreat from the hotel, inform Temari later that he'd been a gracious host to their guests.

Gaara leaned out of the doorway and looked both ways before hurrying across the lobby, as if he were expecting something to run over him. The girl noticed him halfway across the lobby, and watched with mingled confusion and fear on her face as he approached. Gaara was used to fear, and only noted it with a twinge of regret before he ignored it completely.

She was about his age. He would have wondered if she was really an ambassador, if he hadn't noticed the Konoha forehead protector tied around her neck. At least he didn't have to deal with an adult. Gaara crossed his arms and muttered, "Need something?"

The girl gasped, as if she hadn't actually expected to be addressed. "I... uh, c-could..."

He patiently waited for her to finish stuttering; he'd heard worse from others in his home village, whenever he tried to talk to them.

"C-could you please... I n-need some... food..."

"You're hungry?" Gaara summarized. The Leaf-nin nodded, and looked relieved. This wasn't quite as simple an activity as Gaara had hoped. Still, it was better than sitting in the shadows and feeling nervous. "Where do you want to eat?"

She looked at him blankly. "Uh..."

Gaara realized, a moment too late, that a ninja from Konohagakure would have no idea where to eat in Sunagakure. "What kind of food do you like?" he said.

"Um, I'm not very picky..." she said, glancing down and blushing a little.

That was something new. Gaara was accustomed to people stuttering around him, looking away, fearing him, but he couldn't remember anyone blushing in front of him before. He tried not to think about it. "Come on," he said, turning away. There was a restaurant nearby that had decent food that wasn't too expensive. The Leaf kunoichi murmured something that might have been a thanks, and fell into step behind Gaara.

He'd seen her before. As he led her out of the hotel and through the sun-baked streets of Sunagakure towards the restaurant, he tried to remember where. The preliminary fights at the Chuunin Exams – hadn't she been the one to battle a relative? That's right, she was from the Hyuuga clan. The name might be important to keep in mind. Significant foreign ambassadors and all that.

Gaara pushed open the restaurant door, walked inside, and then remembered to be a gentleman and hold open the door for the lady. He caught the door handle and pulled it back just as the Hyuuga was lifting her arms to block the closing door. "Sorry," she and Gaara mumbled simultaneously.

The restaurant had about fifteen glass tables, half of them being used, just as many ceiling fans that didn't do much more than stir around the hot air, and a faded blue counter in front of five refrigerators that displayed the food selections. A bored civilian with green-tinted sunglasses was leaning on the counter with his elbows, but he quickly straightened at the sight of the Kazekage.

The Hyuuga was still standing behind Gaara, so he gestured to the counter. "Order," he said.

"I-I don't..." Her voice got even smaller. "What should I..."

She was staring at the civilian behind the counter with absolute terror, and gave Gaara an imploring look. She was more afraid of ordering food from a stranger than she was of just standing next to Gaara.

It dawned on him that maybe he didn't scare her at all. She hadn't acted reluctant when he offered to help, insisting that she was fine or that she could find someone else. She'd even seemed grateful to him.

Maybe she was just shy.

The moment the thought occurred to him, he felt immensely better, happier than he ever felt day-to-day. This Konoha kunoichi, she wasn't afraid! She didn't think Gaara was monstrous or insane or sadistic at all! He had no real evidence to back up this theory, but just imagining that it could be true – that a complete stranger wasn't automatically reviled by him – almost made him giddy.

"I'll order," he said, and the Hyuuga exhaled deeply. She looked much less tense than she had a moment ago, walking alongside Gaara as he stepped up to the counter.

"What can I do for you, Kazekage-sama?" the civilian asked.

Gaara glanced through the fridges' glass doors and wondered what kind of food the Hyuuga liked. All he really knew about the food in Konoha was that it was easier to get fresh produce, because of the land the village was located in. He pointed into the fridge at a plastic container of mixed fruit and said, "One of those. And a bottle of water."

"Yes sir," the civilian said, and retrieved the items. The Hyuuga watched as he set down the fruit and water. "That'll be 2100 ryou. Please."

"Right." Gaara reached into the pockets of his Kage robes, trying to find his money pouch, but the Hyuuga had pulled out her own before he could locate it. "I'll pay," she said softly, handing the money over and picking up her food.

Now that she had what she'd come for, she hurried out the door, and Gaara found himself following her. She stopped several steps out of the restaurant, turned around, and bowed. "Thank you very much, Gaa—uh, Kazekage-sama." She beamed at him, and started to turn away again.

"Wait!" Gaara said. The Hyuuga stopped, her bright smile faltering a bit. "You're from the Hyuuga clan, aren't you?" he asked, hoping he hadn't been confusing her clan with some other one all along. "What's your full name?"

"Oh! I'm Hyuuga Hinata," she said.

It sounded familiar after all. "Thank you, Hinata..." He struggled for a second over the right suffix: chan or san? "...san."

For a moment, she looked surprised. "You're welcome." When a moment passed and Gaara hadn't thought of anything else to say, Hinata quickly bowed again turned, and ran off with her fruit and water.

Gaara wondered if he should call a good-bye after her, but decided against it. Instead, he watched her run until she was out of sight. That did it for his good deed for the day. Now he could safely return to his mansion and be able to tell Temari that he'd done something useful.

He walked through the village cheerfully, ignoring the people who moved to the far side of the road to avoid him and returning the greetings of those who said hello to him far more brightly than anyone expected out of the vessel of Shukaku.

In his mind's eye, just a few feet ahead of him, he was still watching Hinata run.

x


	3. December 31

A/N: Thanks for your reviews!! Enjoy the next chapter.

Disclaimer: Same old, same old.

x

Our Voice

_December 31_

x

Four days in Sunagakure, and already the days had adopted a pattern. Dinner was supplied by their hosts in the dining hall of the hotel. The Kazekage himself was most often absent, leaving his brother and sister to entertain the guests, but he did make brief appearances to consult with the Sand-nin at the dinners on political matters. By the third day, the only Konoha ambassador who even noticed that he wasn't there was Tsunade, who occasionally grumbled to Shizune that even she was a more sociable Kage than he was.

Hinata had only really seen Gaara once in the past few days. She had passed him in the village, going opposite directions on the same road. When she realized that she'd noticed him, he'd noticed her, and he'd noticed her noticing him, Hinata had self-consciously waved at him as he went past. Hesitantly, Gaara had waved back.

Dinner was supplied by their hosts, but the rest of the time, they were on their own. By lunch on the fourth day, Hinata was used to purchasing her meals. She didn't even need anyone else's help to overcome her shyness.

Not much, at least.

Hinata crept into the restaurant she'd been visiting for the past half week: she'd learned its name was Nomikui. The door had closed behind her before she moved forward, nervously approaching the front counter. The same civilian as always was behind the counter, and he nodded in recognition as she came up. She hadn't learned his name yet.

"U-um..." Hinata said.

"The usual?" he asked.

Hinata nodded.

"Here you go." He pulled out a box of fruit and a water bottle, and handed them to Hinata as she passed him the 2100 ryou. She half-bowed in thanks and turned to leave.

"Happy New Year," the civilian said.

"Y-you too," Hinata said, and hurried out of Nomikui, blushing. She'd probably looked ridiculous in there. Thank goodness the party would be tonight, and then she could go home.

Hinata awkwardly balanced her container of fruit against her forearm and chest in order to free her hands to open her water bottle. She sipped as she walked, looking for a place to sit that might give her some shade. Eating in Nomikui, she'd learned, was little better than sitting outside; the fans didn't offer much circulation and the closed room kept the air from stirring. Most of the buildings in Sunagakure with air-conditioning were government property, and they didn't like seeing Leaf-nin come inside to eat.

Her fruit was heating up, she realized. The best part of the meal was that it was cool, but that wouldn't last long if she didn't eat it soon.

In her wandering, she discovered a playground. It wasn't currently in use, but the bright sheen of the paint on the swings, the slide, and the merry-go-round suggested that it wasn't abandoned. It wasn't much, but there was a patch of shade underneath the slide. She sat down under it, crossed her legs and set her lunch in her lap, and started to eat.

It wasn't long before someone cast a shadow over her. Not that she was complaining. "Hinata-san?" He quickly corrected himself. "Hinata-chan? What are you doing out here?"

Hinata looked up, squinting; even when the sun was blocked, the sky was dazzlingly bright. "Um, I'm... just having lunch, Kazekage-sama."

"Why out here?" Gaara sat down in front of her, crossing his legs. Sand seeped out of his gourd to form an umbrella over the two of them, completely shielding them from the sun.

Hinata shrugged. "I don't like being stuck in my room all the time. I guess." She picked up a piece of watermelon with her chopsticks and ate it. She hoped she wasn't being rude, eating in front of Gaara, but this was her lunch.

Gaara watched her silently for a couple of minutes. Hinata wasn't quite sure what to make of him, and was wondering whether she should ask him to leave or offer him some food when he said, "What's that?"

"Huh?" Hinata glanced down at the yellow fruit Gaara was pointing at.

"Nomikui imports most of its food," Gaara said simply. "I haven't seen a fruit like that before."

"Oh. That's pineapple," Hinata said. It wasn't very common in the Land of Fire either, but she'd seen it occasionally. "Would you like to try...?"

She realized she didn't have a second set of chopsticks. Not disturbed by this in the least, Gaara simply leaned forward, picked up a piece of fruit, and popped it in his mouth. Hinata watched with morbid fascination as he slowly chewed.

"It's unusual," he finally said. "I like it."

A small smile crossed Hinata's face. Watching Gaara trying the new fruit, looking slightly suspicious until he tasted it, and then his tired eyes widening with pleasant surprise – it was like watching a child eating a piece of candy.

Hinata tried to picture Gaara as a child, grinning with joy over a toy or a game, and wondered whether he'd always been as serious as he was now. For some reason, the only image she could conjure was of a solemn little boy, with the same weariness on his face that he had at thirteen years old. She wondered why that was.

"If you want, you can have the rest of the pineapple, Kazekage-sama," Hinata offered. "I don't really like pineapple."

For the first time since Hinata had met him, Gaara's face lit up, and a ghost of a smile crossed his lips. "Thank you, Hinata-chan," he said, and then cleared his throat and added, "You don't have to keep calling me Kazekage."

"A-alright... Gaara-kun," Hinata said. She blushed slightly, hoping she hadn't gotten too casual, but Gaara didn't notice. He was bending over her lunch, plucking out the pieces of pineapple with both hands and eating them one after the other.

The pineapple lasted less than a minute. When they were gone, Gaara looked at the rest of the fruit with faint dismay – Hinata had to fight the urge to giggle at his expression – when suddenly he jerked his head up. "I'm supposed to be with Temari!" he said, hastily getting to his feet. "She wanted to discuss the plans for the New Year's celebration."

Hinata gasped. "Oh, I'm sorry, I—"

"It's not your fault," Gaara said quickly, before sprinting off the playground. He paused long enough to say, "I'll see you at the celebration, Hinata-chan!" before running off.

Hinata smiled. She couldn't help wondering why Gaara had been chosen as Sunagakure's next Kage; he didn't seem comfortable as a leader at all. True, a Kage was supposed to be the strongest ninja from the village, and Gaara easily fit that description, but surely some allowances must be made if someone was simply not made to be a leader...

Hinata finished her lunch, picked up her trash, and stood. She wasn't sure what she would do for the next few hours until dinner and the New Year's party. She'd need to shower, certainly, and to get prepared for the event, but that would only take up so much time. She wondered if she could find a training ground she could use, or if the Sand-nin would be suspicious of a Konoha ninja training within their village.

She'd completely forgotten that Gaara's umbrella was present until she stepped out from under it. It collapsed behind her, leaving only a pile of loose sand under the slide and exposing Hinata again to the full force of the sun. She squinted and looked downward as she left the playground, throwing away her trash in a nearby trashcan as she did.

It would have been very nice, Hinata thought, if Gaara had still been there.

x

Gaara wasn't quite sure how Temari had persuaded him to give a speech. He was fairly certain he hadn't willingly agreed; he seemed to recall Temari speaking too fast for him to attempt to argue, shoving the papers with the speech written on them into his hands and quickly moving on to the security measures that were being taken to protect their guests.

Dinner had started later than was usual for the Konoha ambassadors, not that Gaara was affected by this. He typically ate after 10 at night, and had breakfast around 4 a.m. He had to spread out his meals to keep him fed at night, since he rarely slept.

For him, eating now, at 8, was early. While the guests from Konohagakure dug into their food, he barely picked at his.

Dinner was to last an hour. Temari had instructed Gaara to give his speech at the end. Then would be the general party, with a little music if anyone wanted to dance, until midnight and the New Year. Kankurou was planning on leaving, and Gaara was considering going with him after all.

Several servants went along the table, picking up dishes as the diners finished eating. The young girl taking Gaara's nearly untouched plate gave him a curious look, but said nothing.

He remained sitting until all the plates had been cleared away, glancing in his lap at the speech Temari had written for him. He hadn't had time to look over it at all. This was going to be a disaster.

The table was cleared, and the dining hall had fallen silent. Unable to put off giving his speech any more, Gaara stood up, clutching his papers, and stared down the long table. He gulped. The Hokage was sitting to his right, watching him dubiously, and Temari was to his left, watching threateningly.

He cleared his throat, even though everyone's eyes were already on him, and quickly skimmed the first few lines. "_On behalf of the citizens of Sunagakure, I thank all of you – both Sand-nin and Leaf-nin – for coming together tonight in the name of peace between our two villages..._" blah blah. Gaara saw something further down the page about Suna and Konoha moving into the New Year together hand-in-hand as allies. This didn't sound like him at all.

Whatever. He could read it as it was, he wouldn't have to think about it, and then he could escape with Kankurou. Temari would forgive him if he sounded less than enthusiastic. Eventually.

Gaara took a nervous breath and looked up, prepared to start the speech. His eyes immediately locked halfway down the right side of the table. Sitting straight up in her chair, almost hidden between a red-eyed woman to her left and the woman with a dog to her right, Hinata smiled at Gaara. She _wanted_ to hear whatever he was about to say. She was expecting something worthwhile out of him. She wasn't expecting a speech read with all the enthusiasm of a teenager telling his girlfriend's parents what a responsible and upstanding young man he was.

In front of the entire room, the Konoha ambassadors and the Suna representatives, Gaara crumpled his speech into a ball and shoved it in a pocket of his Kage robes. Temari's eyes almost doubled in size.

"I hate giving speeches," he announced. "Especially prepared speeches. So instead I'm going to talk until I run out of stuff worth saying, and the rest of you can just listen."

There were several laughs. Gaara paused. He hadn't intended to be humorous, but no one was looking at him with outright horror (except Temari), so he figured it was safe to go on.

He opened his mouth to say more, and realized he didn't have anything else. He was frozen for about a fraction of a second before he remembered something he'd seen briefly on the speech. "The speech I _was_ going to give had something about Suna and Konoha entering the New Year as allies," Gaara said, "except it sounded even cheesier than that. But, it is a good point!" he added quickly, noticing the confusion on everyone's faces. "That's why we're here, right? To... be allies."

Temari was right; he did need more practice at this public speaking thing. He decided a change of topic was in order.

"We used to be allies, before the Chuunin Exams this year," Gaara said. "Then everything basically went to hell. And Konoha was completely innocent there. It was our fault – and Orochimaru's, but that doesn't mean we're denying that we were responsible. We agreed to his plan, after all."

The Konoha ambassadors seemed pleased so far. Tsunade was nodding appreciatively. However, the Suna-nin at the table were starting to look nervous. Gaara decided that that was as good a sign as he was likely to get.

"But we've changed since then," he said. "Sunagakure's been going through some hard times, and... um... we're doing things differently, now." He was running out of material again; he pulled something out of thin air. "My father's dead, for one thing."

Temari looked like she could kill Gaara.

"I mean, the fourth Kazekage. So, so there's definitely going to be some changes. The fourth Kazekage made a lot of mistakes as a ruler." Gaara thought of his father, glaring at him critically every time he saw him, and thought of the Shukaku and his mother, and added bitterly, "I was one of them."

Stunned laughter came from the people around the table. Gaara realized what he had said, and quickly added, "Not like that!" He saw Hinata, trying to stifle giggles with both hands and blushing hard.

Raising his voice over the laughs, he continued. "And that wasn't the only stupid thing Father did – put the Shukaku in me, I mean," Gaara said. "I've been watching him my whole life, and I saw him lose his temper at his own people or make a decision without caring about the cost more times than I can count. But I refuse to end up like him!"

The room was dead silent now. Gaara hadn't meant to shout. He took a deep breath. "I know I haven't been the best... human, in the past. But I'm trying to make up for my mistakes – mine and Father's. I'd like to start by mending the relationship between Suna and Konoha any way I can."

Now Gaara was officially out of things to say. "So, happy New Year," he finished.

He felt stupid. That was without a doubt the most he'd ever spoken at one time, and it was a broken, strung-together, mish-mash of topics with the floppiest possible conclusion.

And then the table, both Leaf-nin and Sand-nin, started clapping. It was far from thunderous, but it was the first time he'd been applauded in his life. Clapping loudest of all, Hinata beamed at Gaara as if he'd given the best speech she'd ever heard.

Today was full of firsts for him. The first time he'd given a real speech on his own, the first time anyone had clapped for him. The first time he'd tasted pineapple. The first time he'd ever found himself grinning like a fool at a girl who was grinning back at him, proud that he'd impressed her.

The next few minutes passed in an overwhelming blur as complete strangers came up to comment to Gaara about his speech, he couldn't remember who spoke from which village or what they said. The only person he distinctly remembered was the Hokage, Tsunade, who said that considering the fact that Gaara was an undereducated pubescent kid with a monster in his head, he was okay at speaking. He wasn't sure whether or not that was a compliment.

Temari herded the guests out of the dining hall and up the stairs, leading them to the roof. The sun had almost set and a chill was settling over the desert, but fires burning at the corners of the roof helped fight the cold.

Gaara followed the others upstairs, and immediately started searching for Hinata.

x

Hinata had only been on the roof a couple of minutes before goose bumps started forming on her arms. She rubbed her skin, moving nearer one of the fires, but the flames didn't help that much.

She wished now that she'd worn a traditional kimono with sleeves, rather than a more form-fitting, sleeveless gown. It was probably the most revealing thing she owned, which still wasn't saying much. When Hinata had packed it, she had been thinking about how hot the desert was; she'd forgotten that it would be freezing at night.

The musicians that had been hired for the New Year's party started to play a slow dance song. Most of the other guests, Hinata noticed, continued to stand around chatting. She would have been embarrassed if she'd been the only one not dancing, warming herself by the fire.

"Are you all right over here?" Kurenai walked up to Hinata. "You never seemed like the party type."

"Oh, no, I'm fine, sensei," Hinata said. "Just a little cold."

"Isn't that the truth," Kurenai said. "I never thought the desert could get this cold." She was wearing a long-sleeved dress.

"So what do you think of our hosts, Hinata-chan?" Kurenai asked. "I wasn't too sure about the Kazekage on the first day, but he was quite impressive tonight."

Hinata nodded. "I think... Gaara-kun doesn't know much about other people, but he's a good person. He'll be a good leader."

Kurenai gave her an odd look. "'Gaara-kun'?"

"I – uh..." Even in the cold, Hinata could feel her face growing warm. "He... let me call him..."

"I see," Kurenai said, half-smiling.

"Yuhi Kurenai?" Asuma came towards them, grinning, and with exaggerated formality said, "May I have this dance?"

Kurenai laughed. "You may." She turned to Hinata. "You'll be okay by yourself, won't you?"

"Yes, Kurenai-sensei," Hinata said.

"All right. Have fun." Kurenai waved as she walked into the crowd.

Hinata stayed by the fire as the last of the sunlight drained from the night sky, still rubbing her arms. She wished she'd at least brought a dress with thicker material.

A sudden, horrifying thought occurred to her. She glanced down at her chest. She flushed with mortification, and quickly crossed her arms in front of her breasts. It was _very_ clear how cold she was.

She really wished her dress had thicker material. And maybe a padded bra underneath it.

Just to make everything worse, some malevolent higher power decided at that moment to send Gaara over to her. "Hello, Hinata-chan."

"Um, h-hi, Gaara-kun."

Gaara moved next to her, so that they stood facing each other with one shoulder near the flames and the other nearer to the rest of the party. "I was... looking for you. Earlier," Gaara said. He seemed a bit embarrassed refusing to look Hinata in the eye. She crossed her arms tighter "Were you over here the whole time?"

"Yes," Hinata said.

"Ah," Gaara said.

For a moment they couldn't think of anything to say to each other. They never met each other's eyes, instead glancing between the fire, the crowd, and just about anywhere else that kept them from locking gazes. Hinata desperately hoped Gaara hadn't noticed anything.

For once, she resolved to take the initiative, just to end the awkward moment. "I-it's... it's rather... cold at night. Isn't it?"

"Would you like to go inside?" Gaara blurted out. "It might be warmer in there."

Hinata nodded. "All right." She certainly hoped it would help.

They made their way around the edge of the roof to the stairway, both unconsciously trying to avoid the other guests. Hinata wondered if it was appropriate for the Kazekage to leave, but she suspected he'd been hoping for an excuse to slip out. They descended the stairs, and Gaara didn't stop until they reached the lobby.

"Any better?" Gaara asked.

The room didn't have heating, but it was brightly lit and still retained a bit of the daytime warmth. "A bit," she said. She uncrossed her arms, but kept them in front of her chest, lacing her fingers together.

"Good," Gaara mumbled. He paused, and said, "I don't like parties. There's too many people around."

"Me neither," Hinata said. "I'm... not very good at social things."

Gaara nodded, and then asked, "Why did you come as an ambassador?"

Hinata shrugged. "Someone had to represent the Hyuuga clan."

"I see," Gaara said. "I'm glad you came."

"Thanks," Hinata said quietly.

Gaara glanced around the lobby, making sure that no one was watching, and said, "Do you want to go somewhere else? You don't want to be here and I don't want to be here, and everyone saw us so they know we were at the party a while..." He attempted a laugh. "If anyone asks, we can say it's a diplomatic thing, right? You could tell me about the Hyuuga clan."

He looked so nervous. "I'd like that," Hinata said.

For a moment, Gaara looked stunned, but he recovered admirably quickly. "Good. Where should we go?" he said, apparently remembered that Hinata didn't know her way around Sunagakure, and suggested, "We could go back to the playground."

"Um..." Hinata fiddled with her fingers nervously. "It's going to be cold..." She wondered if she could run up to her room and get her jacket to wear over her dress.

But before she could suggest it, Gaara nodded, dropped his had on the floor, and started taking off his Kage robes. (Hinata was greatly relieved to see that he was wearing his regular clothing underneath.) "Here. I don't like it anyway," he said.

"Oh! Um, o-okay. Th-thank you, Gaara-kun."

She slipped on the robes over her dress, and they set out in the dark to the playground.

x


	4. Midnight

A/N: Okay, I lied. This fic is going to be five parts. Yay, you get an extra one! Thank you all for your reviews, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

x

Our Voice

_Midnight_

x

Gaara was starting to have a sneaking suspicion that he'd been sucked into a particularly unlikely genjutsu. After all, two things had happened very recently that he wasn't quite sure he believed could actually occur in the real world.

The first was that he had asked a girl to go somewhere with him, alone, at night, and hadn't thought until halfway through the question about how creepy that sounded, or until they were about half a mile away from the hotel about what might happen if Shukaku forced its will over Gaara's. He glanced up and sighed with relief when he saw that the moon was only half-full.

The second was that the girl had said yes, without any complaints except about the temperature outside, and that had been easily taken care of. She had willingly gone somewhere with _Gaara_.

If this wasn't a genjutsu, Gaara thought, then they both must have been suffering a bout of temporary insanity.

They walked side-by-side through the dark as Gaara led Hinata towards the playground. Neither spoke for many minutes, until Hinata asked, "How long is it till midnight?"

Gaara wasn't wearing a watch. "I don't know," he said. "I think there's going to be fireworks at twelve."

Hinata nodded, and murmured something Gaara didn't catch.

"What?"

Hinata gasped. It didn't seem she'd thought Gaara could hear her. "I was just... just saying... that's when I'll make my New Year's resolutions... when we see the fireworks."

Gaara had never made a resolution before, and didn't know anyone who did except his sister. Temari usually broke her resolutions within a week. "What's yours going to be?"

A moment late, it occurred to him that Hinata probably didn't like his prying into her business. Even so, she answered, "To be less shy around people I like."

"Oh." Gaara wondered if he was considered among the people she liked. Since she was pretty shy around him, he decided he must. It was a very pleasant idea.

The playground came up on the right. Gaara and Hinata stepped onto it, and stopped. They hadn't discussed what to do now. Gaara had been silly, inviting Hinata to a playground, of all things. They were teenagers now, not to mention ninja. What on earth were they supposed to do at a playground?

Hinata said, "I haven't been on the swings since I was ten..."

Gaara was glad one of them had come up with something to do. "Would you like to?"

Hinata nodded, and ran to the swings. Gaara followed at a walk, and Hinata was still trying to seat herself comfortably when he caught up. "I think I'm too big for the swings," Hinata said, looking at her legs. Her hips were squished between the two chains holding the wooden seat. The playground was only lit by moonlight, starlight, and the meager glows from the windows of nearby buildings, but Gaara strongly suspected she was blushing. She seemed to spend a third of her life with her face red.

"Let me try," Gaara said. He was a guy, so his hips wouldn't be as wide as Hinata's – he ordered himself to stop thinking about Hinata's hips, without much success. He attempted to sit down, but somehow the swing seat escaped him, and he almost fell on the ground. He tried and failed again, completely confused. What was going on here?

Hinata giggled next to him. "What?" Gaara asked testily.

"Your sand..." Hinata said.

Gaara looked over his shoulder to see his gourd pushing the chains of the swing back. No wonder he couldn't sit down. With a grunt, Gaara moved to the side of the swing set and crossed his arms, as if he weren't completely embarrassed.

Meanwhile, Hinata had gotten up. She put her feet on the seat and started swinging standing up. Gaara watched while pretending he wasn't.

They had no idea how much time passed, or how close it was to midnight. While Hinata swung, neither of them spoke. In fact, when the silence was dispelled, it wasn't by either of them.

The quiet of the night was shattered when a door down the street, invisible from their position, was banged open. Two loud, angry voices boomed down the street. To Gaara's mortification, one of them was instantly familiar.

"—Underage brat, can't you read the sign?!"

"What do you mean, underage! I wasn't trying to order any drinks! Who cares?"

"No one, _no one_ under twenty allowed in here, kid!"

"What, you think I've never seen a girl before? C'mon!"

"Rules are rules! Out!"

"Hey, do you have any idea who my brother—"

"_Out!_"

"Fine!"

Gaara didn't move a muscle as the person who'd been kicked out of the unseen door, muttering curses that he couldn't quite make out, walked down the street and towards the playground. He even held his breath when Kankurou crossed in front of the playground, hoping he wouldn't see them and come over. He didn't think he'd be able to face Hinata again if she knew that he was related to a guy who'd just gotten kicked out of a restaurant of "exotic" dancers.

Thankfully, Kankurou left without spotting them, and Gaara let out his breath in a sigh of relief.

"Was that your brother?" Hinata asked quietly.

Gaara winced. "Yes," he said ruefully.

Hinata had stopped swinging and was now just standing on her seat. "What was he doing?" she asked. From her voice, Gaara suspected that she didn't actually know, but had a very good guess.

"I don't know," Gaara said quickly. "We, uh, we don't talk very much."

Hinata nodded, accepting that. Thankfully, she changed topics. "Y-you aren't very close to your siblings. Are you?"

"No," Gaara said, and added, with more bitterness than he was aware he still had, "Father made sure of that. He wanted me to be his little weapon."

"I see," Hinata said. Slowly, she started swinging again. "My... father's kind of the same way. I mean, h-he really wants me to be, to be the next head of the clan. E-even though I'm not... very strong." She paused before saying, all in a rush, "Sometimes I think he cares more about how strong I get than he cares about _me_."

Gaara didn't know what to say to her after that. Tell her that it didn't matter, that she didn't need her family? That she could be fine on her own? Somehow, he doubted that was what she wanted to hear.

"But of course he loves me," Hinata said. "I-I'm sorry. I just... I don't know what I was saying..."

Another change of topic was in order. "At least you don't have an older brother, right?" Gaara said.

Hinata didn't respond, and Gaara was afraid he'd said something down. At last, she said, "I have a little sister. She can be a real pain."

They ended up talking about their families. They tried to keep it light; Gaara described the weird things Kankurou and Temari did, Hinata talked about how annoying Hanabi and sometimes Neji was. Even so, they could both feel the slightest undercurrent of tension. Gaara would accidentally mention Yashamaru, or Hinata would let slip something about her uncle.

Gaara could tell, just from talking to Hinata, that they were both lonely. They were both outsiders in their homes, called the prides of their families to outsiders but knowing their relatives were ashamed of who they really were. Gaara was a monster, too destructive and soulless to be seen as a normal person; Hinata was thought of as weak despite the fact that she was supposed to be the strongest Hyuuga of her generation. Both of them, in their radically different ways, were failures.

As they were talking, Gaara had stood on his own swing (stepping onto it from the back so that his gourd didn't get in the way) and swung beside Hinata. He reached out and grabbed one chain on her swing, holding on so that they'd swing together. After a moment, Hinata reached out and took the chain on Gaara's swing as well.

Gaara knew what he wanted to make his New Year's resolution. He decided not to be lonely again.

A flash of light and an echoing bang came from behind them. They both started; Hinata almost slipped off her swing, but caught herself just in time. Each twisted around to look backwards and saw the last sparks from the first fireworks burn out.

"It's already midnight?" Hinata said.

Gaara didn't answer, but he didn't have to. Three more fireworks shot upwards, all exploding in a brilliant green.

"Happy New Year," Gaara said quietly, and Hinata smiled in response.

Their swings had slowed to a stop now; they awkwardly standing sideways on the seats, facing each other, and turned sideways to see the fireworks. Both of Hinata's hands were laced around one of her chains, beneath where Gaara held it, still connecting them.

Gaara found he couldn't watch the fireworks for long; the bangs and bright flashes bothered him, reminded him too much of explosions. However, Hinata didn't seem to have that problem. She was watching the lights with rapt attention, smiling upwards. She looked simply happy. It was the first time Gaara had seen her without any self-consciousness clinging to her face.

The fireworks were unnerving Gaara; his heart was throbbing wildly in his chest, and he was starting to feel light-headed. He wasn't going to be lonely again, he thought, watching Hinata. He wasn't going to...

The grand finale of the fireworks show began. Thunderous explosions like rolls of thunder covered them, and the playground was illuminated in stark white with black shadows. Gaara's arm jerked, pulling his and Hinata's swings together. He grabbed Hinata's shoulder with his other hand, pulled her forward, and kissed her.

It wasn't what could be called an ideal first kiss. They came together a bit too hard, and Gaara somehow managed to bite his lower lip; he hoped he hadn't accidentally hurt Hinata. They were frozen against each other, not even breathing, for seven or eight long seconds; the fireworks had ended.

Even so, Gaara spent the kiss dazed with excitement. He could feel the bones beneath Hinata's skin under his hand, could feel the warmth radiating off her body, could feel the slightest trembling from her lips, could almost imagine what it felt like between them.

And then Hinata stumbled backwards, away from Gaara's grasp, falling off her swing and barely landing on her feet. "I-I-I have, h-have to... to go n-now," she said, backing slowly towards the street and away from Gaara. Before he could say anything, she turned around and ran back to the road.

Gaara stared after her. Something had gone very wrong.

x


	5. January 1

A/N: Yay, it's finally finished! At last. Here's the final part!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

x

Our Voice

_January 1_

x

Hinata made it back to her room near one in the morning. She'd taken much longer to find the hotel than it had to reach the playground – she had gotten thoroughly lost in the dark village a few times. Now, thoroughly exhausted, she took off her sandals and flopped down on the bed, shutting her eyes, not even turning off the light.

She knew she wouldn't fall asleep for a while, anyway. Her thoughts would keep her awake. What on earth had happened? Everything had been so calm, until...

The memory of Gaara's kiss still lingered on her lips, as if they were still there. Hinata pressed her lips tightly together to try to get rid of the feeling. Why had he done that? Without even a warning? From what little time she had spent with Gaara, she had never expected that out of him.

Why?

A soft knock came at Hinata's door. She jerked awake; she hadn't realized she'd been dozing. "Coming!" Quickly, she unlocked the door and opened it. "T-Temari-san? What are you..."

Temari gave Hinata a bewildered look, as if she'd like to know the answer to that question, too. Behind her, standing as far from Hinata's door as he could get, was a red-faced Gaara, arms crossed and looking at his feet. "He, um, told me to come up here," Temari said, pointing. "I think he said he wants his robes back?" She turned to give Gaara a questioning look. He nodded sharply.

"Oh. R-right." Hinata quickly pulled off the Kage robes that Gaara had lent her, leaving her with only her rather cold dress. That was fine, she could get under the blankets and go to sleep now, anyway. "Here."

"Thanks..." Temari gave Gaara another look, shrugged, and said, "We'll see you in the morning before you set off, Hinata-san." She turned and started down the hall, Gaara following.

For a fleeting instant, Hinata wanted to call Gaara back, to ask him what exactly that kiss had been all about. Now that she thought about it, though, that didn't seem all too important. Instead, she called, "Good-night, Gaara-kun. I'll see you later."

She got a brief glimpse of his face as he turned, his mouth open a bit from surprise. Hinata smiled at him, and shut the door.

At last, Hinata flipped off the light and slid under the covers, still in her dress. She fell asleep still imagining she could feel Gaara's kiss.

x

"Make a speech."

"No."

"Make. A. Speech!"

"No!"

"Gaara! Come on! You made a great one last night! You can't let our _guests_ go without saying something to them!"

"Why not? They heard me talk yesterday, didn't they?"

Temari glared at Gaara, thoroughly exasperated. "I don't believe you! You're just going to let a perfect opportunity to encourage diplomacy waltz out the door—"

"Yes, I am."

"Why?!"

Gaara scowled up at Temari, arms crossed. He wasn't about to explain that he didn't want to see the Konoha ambassadors because he was afraid he'd traumatized one of them. Idiot, he'd known how shy Hinata was. What the hell had he been thinking, trying to _kiss_ her...

"No speech."

Temari let out an aggravated growl. "Fine! Be that way! Don't blame me when all the hard work we went to is thrown away!"

"They won't care."

"You'd better at least show yourself," Temari said. Gaara wondered on what authority she was threatening him. Usually it was the other way around. This must have been what she was like when she was in a bad mood: reckless.

"I will," Gaara said. "But I'm not saying anything."

They were arguing in the hotel lobby, a little after ten in the morning; the Konoha ambassadors had already packed their luggage and were outside, ready to go. Still glaring at Gaara, Temari barked, "Come on!" at the four jounin who were waiting to the side. They filed outside behind Temari, and Gaara reluctantly followed the group into the hot sunlight.

The Konoha ambassadors fell silent when the Sand-nin came outside. The jounin lined up as they had on the day the ambassadors arrived, and Temari stepped in front of them to speak. Gaara lurked in the doorway of the hotel, glaring at the ground. He completely tuned out Temari's speech, and just thought.

What _had_ he been thinking when he'd kissed Hinata? Besides the obvious things that probably all boys felt when they kissed girls, about how she looked nice and was very friendly and such. All the clichés. It was odd, thinking about his own thoughts as if he were analyzing a common human tendency. Gaara didn't think anything he'd ever done before could be called a common human tendency, except perhaps for eating.

That was it. He had been thinking about how normal it would be, for a boy to kiss a girl. About how normal it would make him. About how normal people were never lonely, an emotion Gaara had resolved never to feel again.

Then he had just been using Hinata to make himself feel better. Well, if that was the case, he didn't deserve to be with her, did he? It was better that she'd run away from him, and that she'd be going home today. She probably didn't even really think of him as a friend, anyway...

He remembered what she'd said in her room last night, when Gaara had gone up with Temari to retrieve his robe. _I'll see you later_. For a brief moment, he let himself hope. Maybe...

No. It didn't mean anything.

Modest clapping jerked him out of his thoughts. Temari had apparently finished speaking. The Konoha ambassadors came up to thank Temari for inviting them, apparently accepting the fact that they'd be speaking to her instead of Gaara. As the Hokage spoke to Temari, she said, "Please express my gratitude to Kazekage-dono. I hope to come back soon." She glanced at Gaara once, but didn't say anything directly to him.

"I – thank you, Hokage-sama!" Temari said, surprised. "I'm sure he'll be glad to invite you to our village again." She shot Gaara a look. He didn't budge.

At last, the Leaf-nin had finished their saying their good-byes, and started their journey back to Konoha, with the four Sand-nin accompanying them to the edge of the village. Gaara had gotten away with not having to talk to Hinata again. How lucky.

Temari watched them until they were out of sight, down a side road that she couldn't see, and then stalked up to Gaara. "I hope you're satisfied," she said sulkily. "You made both of us look like idiots, you know."

"They didn't care," Gaara said. "They probably think I ordered you to speak for me. Don't some daimyos use servants to give their orders?"

"Great. They'll think we're snobs," Temari muttered. "At least the Hokage said she wants to come back. That's a good – who's that?"

Gaara looked in the same direction as Temari. One of the Leaf-nin was coming back, escorted by a Sand-nin. Gaara's heart rate rapidly increased, the beginnings of panic. It couldn't be. That wasn't... Maybe she'd just left something in her room... She _couldn't_ want to talk to...

"Oh, Hyuuga-san!" Temari said, automatically stepping forward to speak on Gaara's behalf. "Did you forget something?"

Hinata nodded and, very softly, said, "Yes."

"I see. Would you like me to..." She trailed off when Hinata shook her head.

"N-no... I just need to... um, excuse me..." She tentatively scooted past Temari, so she was face-to-face with Gaara. She didn't meet his eyes. "U-um..."

"Hinata... chan." Gaara looked away from her, noticing that she was blushing furiously. Wasn't she always? He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry about... you know. I wasn't really thinking about..."

"Gaara," Hinata interrupted. "It's okay." She tried to look him in the eye, failed, and blushed even harder. "I'm n-not upset."

"Really?" She was just being nice, obviously. "You're not?"

She shook her head hard. "Actually, I-I, um..." Gaara had never seen her face this red before. Concerned, he put out a hand to lay on her shoulder, in case she was about to faint from heat stroke or something, but she squeaked fearfully and leaped about two feet back. From this distance, she raised her voice and tried to continue in a high-pitched half-yell. "I-I mean... I r-really... I..."

"Hinata?"

She gave up on whatever it was she was about to say, squeezed her eyes shut, ran forward, and flung her arms around Gaara's neck. For a moment her body was completely stiff with terror; then, she turned her head just enough to plant a trembling kiss on Gaara's cheek.

With that she let go and ran to the safety of the other side of Temari. It wasn't until she was ten feet away that she stopped and turned around to yell, "I'll write you a letter when I get back to Konohagakure!" Her voice had a tinge of panic, as if she had just jumped off a cliff and was still trying to get used to the idea that she'd survived.

"Oh," Gaara said, too stunned to say anything else. Noticing the worry that crossed Hinata's face at his less-than-enthusiastic response, he quickly tried again. "I'll... I'll write you too," he said. "Until we can see each other again."

At that, a wide, excited smile crossed Hinata's face. "Okay!" She turned and started hurrying the other way, to catch up with the other Leaf-nin. The Sand-nin accompanying her quickly followed. She yelled over her shoulder, "Good-bye, Gaara!"

"Bye! Hinata..."

He didn't notice that Temari was watching him until Hinata was well out of sight. He noticed that he had a rather dazed smile on his face at about the same time, and quickly frowned at his sister. "What?"

He was expecting a lecture on professionalism in front of his guests, or on how pitiful his attempts at communication had been. He wasn't expecting Temari to smile slyly. "Well. Who was that, Gaara?"

His frown deepened. "Hyuuga Hinata," he muttered. "One of the ambassadors." He turned away from Temari and started stalking down the road, heading back to the Kazekage Mansion.

Temari didn't let him escape that easily. "Isn't she the one who got beat by her cousin in the Chuunin Exams? She was one of the rookie genin, right?"

"Yes," Gaara mumbled.

"That makes her your age," Temari concluded smugly. "You know, I thought she was cute. Kind of like a frightened kitten, don't you think?"

"Shut up," Gaara snapped, and Temari laughed. "We're just being diplomatic. She's from the main family of the strongest clan in Konoha. We thought it would be useful if the Hyuuga clan and the Kazekage had a good relationship. All right?"

"Oh, I understand," Temari said airily, smirking.

After a moment, she asked, "Does Kankurou know yet?"

Pause. "No."

A chuckle. "Well, then we should tell him."

Gaara gave her a horrified look. "Temari! It's _nothing_, all right? Hinata and I are friends!"

"Are you sure? Because I think Kankurou would be thrilled to know that his little brother managed to get a girlfriend in another village when he's never got a date. Besides," Temari's smile hardened, "it might cheer him up a bit. He's not going to have much to smile about for a while once I'm finished with him, after that stunt he pulled last night..."

Gaara remembered hearing Kankurou get ejected from the restaurant, and grinned. It was a grin that the Shukaku, had it been awake, would be proud of. "I'll come along," he said.

Kankurou's punishment would certainly be something that Hinata would like to read about.

x

_About two years later_

x

Hinata was pacing back and forth along the edge of the Hyuuga complex, Byakugan activated. Her father had long ago let her be, after she'd said that she was waiting for Neji to get home from his mission. He'd forbidden her two days ago from waiting around outside the entrance to Konoha for him, but there wasn't much he could say about her waiting on family property.

She'd just had lunch, and had been outside for ten minutes now. Soon she'd get tired of pacing, as she did every day, and sit down with a book and try to read... until she couldn't stand it anymore, and she'd get up to pace again... But today, she didn't get that far.

She stopped, her eyes wide as she looked through the trees outside the Hyuuga complex. Someone was coming.

Hinata vaulted over the gate around the Hyuuga complex and ran down the path outside it. "Neji-niisan! You're back!"

Neji stopped walking, looking confused, and Hinata stumbled to a stop in front of him. "Neji-niisan... Your mission..." she said, panting.

"Has been completed," he said. "Are you all right, Hinata-sama?"

She nodded. "Is he okay?" she asked.

He frowned. "Yes," he said, holding back a sigh, "Naruto-kun is just fine. He's probably visiting his sensei at the hospital now."

"Um, thank you," Hinata said uncertainly, "but I meant Gaara... the Kazekage. The Akatsuki was attacking him, weren't they? I-is he all right?"

"Oh." Neji looked embarrassed. "I'm sorry, I thought you meant..." He cleared his throat. "Yes, the Kazekage is just fine. We were able to successfully rescue him."

Hinata sighed with relief. "Good," she said.

Neji gave her a curious look. "Oh, Hinata-sama. The Kazekage asked me to pass this on to you." He pulled out a letter. "Do you... have any business with him?"

"Kind of," Hinata said, her cheeks coloring slightly. She took the letter and ran back to the Hyuuga complex, leaving Neji behind. "Thank you, Neji-niisan!"

She didn't open the letter until she was in her own room with the door shut:

"_Dear Hinata,_

_"I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that the Shukaku is finally gone – at least the Akatsuki is good for something. The bad news is that it seems that several of my kunoichi are... interested in me. Don't worry, I've been ignoring them. Kankurou told them I'm committed. I guess he's useful after all._

_"Several members of the advisory council seem to think that we need to have a celebration, since I managed to get away from the Akatsuki. I think they're ridiculous, but you know they don't listen to me when it comes to things like that. But as long as they're having a celebration and I don't have any choice but to come, I thought it would be logical if several ninja from Konohagakure were invited, since Konoha assisted so much in fighting the Akatsuki..."_

Hinata smiled to herself as she read the rest of the letter.

She couldn't wait to see Gaara again.

x

Like attracts like. Those who are similar will always find each other.

They may start out alone, stumbling through the darkness by themselves, running into strangers who shove them back. When someone reaches out and grabs their hands and asks, "Who are you?" they may not say the right thing for a long time; they might open their mouths, but cannot find any words; they might give an answer that frightens whoever asked.

But eventually, they find each other. Their fingers barely touch, they just manage to whisper, "Who are you?" They answer softly, almost inaudibly, because they don't know what to say. Even so, they understand each other, for they are alike.

Their fingers lace together, and they don't have to wander through the darkness in fear anymore, because they've found each other. They can say, loudly, clearly, in one voice that belongs to both, "Here we are."

Like will always attract like, and they won't have to be alone again.

x


End file.
